Book: A Study in Scarlet

“A Study in Scarlet is a potent mix of murder, suspense, cryptic clues, red herrings and revenge. It introduces us to the world-famous characters of Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson and Inspector Lestrade as they join forces for the first time to track a mysterious killer that stalks London’s streets.“

I finally got around to reading this.

I’ve always been intrigued with how Sherlock Holmes and John Watson met. For real. We’ve seen many iterations now of how this happened though, that it feels weird reading the original source for the first time.

I must say, it was a little underwhelming. John Watson is impressed by Sherlock way too quickly, and he is far too trusting for a soldier come home from war. With regards to the first meeting, I must say that I preferred Steven Moffat’s take on it.

That said, I did like the novel. The case was interesting even when I already knew where it was going, and who the murderer was. The digression into the murderer’s past was jarring at first; but it was just as engaging as the case, when the initial shock of switching point of view and timeline wore off.

And there are not buts.

Well, there’s one, but I got that out of the way already–with my less-than-thrilled reception at Sherlock’s and Watson’s actual first meeting.

A Study in Scarlet is a definite must read for any Sherlock fans–and a great first novel for those who want to start reading the detective stories. That said though, don’t expect for all of them to be like this.

I think this is the only Sherlock Holmes novel I’ve read so far though, that has a flashback just to explore the murderer’s motive. It’s very much an add-on and not important to the story. But, as I said, it’s just as engaging as the actual case, so I’m not complaining.

All I can say is, on to the next mystery!

Book: A Calm Before Storm #4

“Retired private investigator Derrick Storm was enjoying the easy life–until he fished up a decapitated head belonging to a victim of notorious criminal The Fear. When Derrick’s father, Carl, revealed that The Fear was also the man who killed Derrick’s mother, the game changed.

Following a lead, Derrick adn Carl set up a meeting at the Russian Embassy–only to interrupt The Fear in the midst of an assassination attempt on the ambassador. In doing so, Derrick and Carl were framed for the hit. Derrick’s CIA contact, Helen Pierce, managed to clear their names, only to shut them down, taking away their passports, weapons, and Derrick’s P.I. identification.

That wouldn’t stop the Sotmr men, though. Discovering that The Fear’s long game is to destabilize the Russian and German governments causing a potential world war, Derrick realized he had to reach out to the only contact he has left–Clara Strike, a CIA agent considered dead to the world–and the woman who crushed Derrick’s heart.“

I am very tempted to say I liked the issue just because I feel like I’ve become too hard to please lately. My recent posts have all been a bit negative. But who would I be kidding? I can’t lie to save my life. Even in text form.

Okay, so maybe I didn’t hate this issue–I just didn’t like it. Very much. And my main gripe is this: nothing happened. At all.

We have Derrick, his dad, and his lover parachute to Russia. They ride a train where Derrick gets ambushed, but they don’t really learn anything they didn’t know before. And then they spend the rest of the issue beating up an old man for the whereabouts of The Fear. As soon as they leave, The Fear is revealed to be in the room they just departed all along.

Talk about an exercise in futility!

I don’t know how long this mini-series is supposed to go, but if they’re already resorting to filler issues like this, maybe it’s time to cut down the number of issue orders and just focus on telling the mystery straightforwardly. Or maybe branch out with a subplot featuring the CIA investigation of The Fear.

Either way, I’m hoping next issue would have a more substantial content.

Book: Frozen Heat

“NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat gets more mystery than she imagined when she arrives at her latest crime scene. The body of an unidentified woman has been found stabbed to death and stuffed inside a suitcase left sitting in a freezer truck. A startling enough death, but an even bigger shock comes when this new homicide surprisingly connects to the unsolved murder of Detective Heat’s own mother. Killed gruesomly, the Jane Doe on ice launches Heat on a dangerous and emotional investigation, rekindling the cold case that has haunted her since she was nineteen. Paired once again with her romantic and investigative partner, top journalist Jameson Rook, Heat works to solve the mystery of the body in the suitcase while she also digs into unexplored areas of her mother’s background–areas Nikkie has been afraid to confront before, but now must.

Facing relentless danger as someone targets her for the next kill, Heat’s search will unearth painful family truths, expose a startling hidden life, and cause Nikkie to reexamine her own past. Heat’s passionate quest takes her and Rook from the back alleys of Manhattan to the avenues of Paris, trying to catch a ruthless killer. The question is, now that ther mother’s cold case has unexpectedly thawed, will Nikki Heat finally be able to solve the dark mystery that has been her demon for more than ten years?“

The title of this novel is very apt. It’s frozen, and it takes time (and some chapters) before it completely thaws. Once it does though, it definitely takes you for a ride. But first, a detour.

I haven’t been a very good fan of Castle, the television series, for a couple of years now. Work has me tangled up in a lot of things, and my viewing habits suffered a little. Not that I’m complaining about the work. I love what I do. It does create an interesting predicament for me with regards to Frozen Heat though.

See, most of my complaints about the Nikki Heat novels is that they read too much like an episode of Castle. In some cases, events in the show also appear in the novels. And with a cast of characters that are very similar in both medium, it’s really hard to distinguish one from the other. And I have been wondering what the point is in providing new content when it’s a retread of what was already shown.

Of course, because I haven’t been watching Castle regularly for two seasons now, I have no idea if that’s the case for Frozen Heat. I do know for sure though that the new person in-charge of the precinct in the show is nothing like the one in the novel, but that’s just one difference. That’s pretty much the only thing I can say to compare the two nowadays.

On Frozen Heat alone though, I have more.

Now, as I already mentioned, the novel starts our at glacier pace. Well, no. Not really. But because it starts much like most mystery novels do, it feels glacier-like for me. There’s nothing new. And, once again, it reads too much like a novelization of a Castle episode–even if it’s one I haven’t seen.

That is, until they take the show on the road–and, in one case, overseas. That’s when things become interesting.

In Frozen Heat, we delve deeper into the mystery of Nikki Heat’s mother. Parts of the mystery mirror events that happen in the show, but I think this is finally where the novel separates itself from its source material. And I’m loving it.

As we unravel the death of Cynthia Heat, we also get a new look at who Nikki is as a person. And while past Nikki Heat novels has her pretty much being a printed copy of Kate Beckett, the one we get to know in Frozen Heat is someone new, someone different. And as the case blows open, we are introduced to a new arc that I hope will carry on (and get solved) in the next novel.

Another thing I loved about the latest book is the development of new characters introduced in Heat Rises. These character don’t exist in the show, for budgetary reasons I’m presuming, which is great for the novel because it adds to the series’s identity.

I must say, this is the first time I’m actually looking forward to the next Nikki Heat novel. Let’s check out if I’m the only one who is:
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Book: A Calm Before Storm #3

“Private investigator Derrick Storm was enjoying the easy life until he fished up the decapitated head belonging to a victim of notorious criminal The Fear. This man also killed Derrick’s mother.

In the hopes of avoiding an international crisis and to enact their revenge, Derrick and his father, Carl, have teamed up to take down The Fear. Calling in a favor with famed private investigator Jake Palace, Derrick arrived at the Russian embassy–just in time to interrupt The Fear assassinating Russian diplomats and framing Derrick for it.“

Why is this story taking so long? Or is it because the series just comes out once a week? I’m starting to understand why I’ve never become that big of a comics fan when I was a kid. I like my stories fast–when it comes to releases.

That said, I do like that Derrick Storm is really becoming his own character. I mean, reading the previous Derrick Storm graphic novel and the previous issues, he does come off a bit like Rick Castle. But that’s not the case in this issue. Which is a good thing.

Also a good thing, the relationship he has with his father which is only getting explored now.

My only problem with this issue actually is the return of (spoiler alert) Clara Strike. Who, last I read, was killed. Apparently, in the graphic novel I still have yet to find, it was revealed that she was alive. And that she offered Castle a get-out-of-jail card of sorts. And this is where it gets tricky.

Castle, as a television series, can rely on a “previously on…” when they need viewers to remember something. But for most of the time the episodes stand alone. The Nikki Heat novels follow the same rule, in that they too stand alone from each other. For the most part. Both Castle the TV series and the Nikki Heat novels have a set of regular characters. The Derrick Storm comics don’t have that. Or, at the least, haven’t established that. So when Clara Strike suddenly makes a comeback, you’re taken with surprise. And when you haven’t read any of the previous stories (not issues), you think–is this a deus-ex-machina? Are the writers copping out?

I guess what I’m saying is, three issues in, I don’t think Derrick Storm is made for the serialized comic book format. The writing is okay, but the pacing is truly frustrating. And at the end of an issue, instead of anticipating the next one, I debate whether or not I should still buy it.

Once this mini-series is done, I hope Marvel sticks Derrick Storm back into the graphic novel format and keep it away from the serialized comics.

Book: A Calm Before Storm #2

“Derrick Storm was a successful private investigator who occasionally consulted with the C.I.A., but when the opportunity for a life of leisure presented itself, he took it. Ignoring the disapproval of his father, Carl Storm, Derrick sold his company to the famed private investigator, Jake Palace, and moved onto his yacht.

But someone has different plans for the Storm men. When a decapitated head shows up on Derricks’ yacht with the Hindu sign for ‘life’ carved on its cheek, his father, Carl reveals that the mark is the calling card of the notorious criminal, The Fear. When Derrick recommends they inform the C.I.A., Carl refuses. This is about revenge.

Carl Storm is out to find the man who killed his wife.“

I must say, I really liked this issue of A Calm Before Storm. That said, nothing really happens. But the quips. And the action. It’s like one body of sequences lifted off a Castle episode. In comic form. Which, come to think of it, is also a bad thing.

Do we really want Castle in yet another media form? I mean, we already have the Nikki Heat novels that’s basically Castle in book form, and now we have the Derrick Storm graphic novels and comic books? Sure, Derrick doesn’t really have a Kate Beckett–but, he’s like a mixture of Kate and Castle! So they’re both still present–just in one person.

Which brings me to why I like the issue. With the introduction of Carl Storm, we get insight into Derrick’s history and character. And we take a step away from the similarities between him and Castle. Though, it does bring us a little closer to Beckett and her mom’s murder, there’s the added dynamic of a parent willing to spar verbally with his son. So it’s not completely the same.

I’m once again looking forward to the next issue of A Calm Before Storm. Hopefully, there will be new developments alongside the peek into Derrick’s back story by then.